Andy Warhol, one of the most well known artists of the
twentieth century, produced his most powerful work by
examining the ways in which mass produced images function
in the face of real human suffering and death. He has
been quoted saying “if you look at a gruesome
picture over and over, it doesn't mean anything anymore.”
The image used in Birmingham Race Riot is a
photograph taken by Charles Moore, and was originally
published on May 17, 1963, in Life magazine. Taken during
the riots at Birmingham, Alabama, the event was a turning
point of the Civil Rights Movement. Supporters of Martin
Luther King, Jr., protesting at segregated lunch counters,
were attacked by the police with dogs and water hoses
and King himself was arrested. Images such as this dramatized
the brutality and political oppression. With which the
Civil Rights protestors were met. Warhol treats this
image the same way he treats Coca Cola bottles and dead
celebrities. The images he borrows become logos or icons,
the fine points stripped away, while the most memorable
elements are emphasized. Then, like a logo, Warhol reproduces
the image in mass quantities. In this way the artwork
not only functions as a commemoration of an historic
event, it also questions the effects of mass media and
illustrates the distance between the arts and events
in the streets.